We Are All Abigael Evans

On the way to the grocery store in Fort Collins, Colo, Tuesday, 4-year-old Abigael Evans started to cry over the sounds of NPR on the radio. Her mother asked her what was wrong. Mom turned off NPR, and put on some Neil Young. In Abby’s honor, here is some vintage Neil.

And for hardcore fans, here’s a 16-minute cut off Young’s new album. Blows me away.

JD, how ridiculous?? Seriously, you can't find a concrete issue out there on which to vent your frustrations? Really? You have chosen to decide you know this woman and her life...to KNOW she was BLASTING the radio...to KNOW her child was in daycare ALL DAY...not to mention you make that statement as if daycare is an inherent evil and as if people always have a choice when it comes to daycare. Would you also scream and shout if this woman chose not to take her child to daycare and instead remained at home with her rather than work and then NEEDED a little government assistance to do so??? I raised two children on my own at near poverty level, they didn't like daycare and I hated that they had to go (my sisters were able to afford to pay a wonderful and loving lady to care for their children at home and it broke my heart that I couldn't do the same for my children, but that's life, ya' know.). As time went by I was able to find a few after school programs to alleviate the situation. Later when they were probably a little too young (13 and 9) I let them stay at home for the two hours after school before I got in from work. It saved some money and they felt happier at home. But then there were the times when they were a little older and I was working a second job at night and they started getting into some trouble because I wasn't there. But we survived it all, without government assistance, my children are grown responsible productive adults despite several years in daycare. Who's to say Abigail's and her mom's story is not unlike mine and millions of others out there just somehow managing to make our way. Please, just find something justifiable to moan and groan about!

Note: the LeftPress, except for ABC, is not including the salient fact: The mother had just picked up the child from daycare and was blasting NPR on the radio in the car. That's two strikes right there. Here's the quote: "I just picked her up from daycare so she was grumpy after a long day and we were driving to the grocery store listening to NPR."

This girl is crying because her heart is broken: her mommy abandons her to daycare, probably everyday for who knows how many years.Not to mention that in the car "mom" (not we) is listening to the radio instead of making at least an attempt to reconnect. If this child is tired of political wrangle, that means "mom" has not sheltered her from the fray.

Sounds to me like this little girl is going to cry her way through every class in school where they just talk talk talk all day long. "But mommmmmyyyyyy I want music, not words. In songs you can tune out meaning, substance and depth. Listening to people talk is no fun. Better to have ALL my stimulation come with bells and whistles."

JohnDonohue You are judging a mom who needs to work and have her child in a childcare? This is the reality for tons of families. Are all those mom's bad? Are the Dad's bad too? You also know that she has probably been "abandoned" at a childcare center EVERYDAY for WHO KNOWS how many years, you have gleaned much from this video. Amazing.

@JoshuaBillingsley-Cooke Did you even look at this little girl- she is a preschooler, no they don't have patience to listen to talk talk talk- it's developmentally appropriate. It by no means, means she will not be able to listen to lectures at school- you know, they don't begin endless talking type classes until the later grades of middle school at the earliest.

Eric, that "little girl" is a republican plant. She's also an actress hired to pretend that she was upset about Bronco Obama being on the radio all the time.She knew exactly what she was doing. The only thing they didn't cut out was her recoiling in fear from the scary black man.

@sacredh That's ridiculous. There's no way this obviously honest display of emotion by a 4 year old was calculated. Is that what you are suggesting? That a four year old was able to anticipate that a given idea would go viral and then execute that plan, complete with perfect acting? For God's sake, it's a little kid. What in the world makes you want to bust the chops of a four year old?

Ivy_B, you're one up on me. I can't even remember when I could remember when I wasn't cynical. When I was 6 years old we lived just a few blocks from a lake. My best friend was my next door neighbor. His parents were very religious. They used to take me with them when they went swimming. His parents were telling us one day about Jesus walking on water. I told Doug that Jesus was like Santa Claus and they'd tell us the truth when we were older. I was cynical before I knew what cynical was.

do you dispute any of the facts? Child kept in daycare all day; Mom blasting radio instead of connecting?; Radio content is harsh political content, exposing child to constant aggression; mom parading child's pain nationally as "cute."?

@JohnDonohue@TyPollard I like your use of the verb "blasting." I'm pretty sure that no one "blasts" NPR. Yes, she has her kid in childcare. That doesn't make her a bad mother. She listens to NPR. It's very likely that she's a good mother. "Radio content is harsh political content," huh? You obviously don't listen to NPR which is slant and rant free.